Humanity 5 "The Beginning"

Chapter 15

DAMON’S POV

Well, Stefan just filled me in on Katherine’s latest scheme and I only have one thing to say about it.

“She is brilliant.” I state, looking up at Stefan from the ground where I’m chained to the wall.

“We haven’t noticed that Katherine’s been inhabiting Ashley’s body for weeks, and that’s all you have to say?” He asks in disbelief.

“Yep.”

“And you realize that it was Katherine who broke up with you, not Ashley.” He reminds me.

Of course I’ve put that together, but I’d rather not think about it. I’d rather not think that everything I’ve done over the past few days…all the anger I felt…it was all for nothing.

Plus, that also means that I haven’t actually had to face Ashley’s reaction to my madness yet.

“Right, so your little murder spree with Enzo, where you, you know, killed Aaron, nearly killed Jeremy, and tried to kill Wes, but got infected with that ripper virus. That was all you reacting to Katherine.” He breaks it down for me.

Why does he insist on pissing me off?

“I’m trying to figure out why you decided to tell a starving, bloodthirsty, vampire-feeding ripper that his nemesis is still walking around alive and well, while I’m stuck in this cell and can’t do anything about it.” I groan.

“I have it under control.” He assures me.

“I would love to hear this.” I say with a smile as I lean back against the cellar wall.

ELENA’S POV

“Hang on here…Katherine’s still alive? How is that possible?” Matt asks in disbelief as Caroline explains the situation to everyone in the Salvatore living room.

“Remember that time Nadia’s ex, Gregor, hitched a ride in your head?” Caroline asks and Matt nods. “Yeah, well, it’s kind of the same thing. Katherine is a passenger in Ashley, except it’s worse because none of us seemed to notice.”

I feel horrible that Ashley has been suffering inside of her own mind while the rest of us have been acting like everything is normal. We have to get her back.

“She was at my house…how did none of us figure it out?” Tyler asks from the couch.

“Because it’s Katherine and she’s smart, and conniving, and sneaky…” I say, trailing off.

“And we’re the worst friends ever.” Caroline adds sadly. It’s true. We’re all thinking it.

“This makes no sense. She saved my life.” Jeremy says from the speaker phone on the table. He and Bonnie are on campus. “She gave me CPR when Enzo tried to kill me. Katherine would never do that.”

“That’s what made her so believable. She played Ashley perfectly. If she let you die, her cover would have been blown.” Bonnie says through the phone.

“Elena and I were sleeping three feet away from her.” Caroline says, sounding frustrated.

“She picked out my Bitter Ball dress.” I add as Stefan comes up the steps from the basement.

“And I let her use my toothpaste.” Caroline exclaims.

“Well, did she lure you into a hotel room to make out with you?” Stefan asks as we all look at him. He looks hurt. I don’t blame him.

“She’s the reason I found out about you and Klaus.” Tyler says to Caroline, putting the pieces together in his head.

“Of course. Oh my god.” Caroline squeals.